RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in North Dana, we use the following websites to find information relevant to North Dana and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for North Dana:
    • 42.455772, -72.278951
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on North Dana
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Waymark.com

Curious and Interesting Names Near North Dana ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Baconville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baconville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baconville
    • Baconville is located in Franklin County
  • Dana ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana
    • Dana is located in Worcester County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Dana
    • From North Dana to Dana
  • Dana Center
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dana Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dana Center
    • Dana Center is located in Worcester County
  • Eaglesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eaglesville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaglesville
    • Eaglesville is located in Worcester County
  • Furnace
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Furnace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace
    • Furnace is located in Worcester County
  • Gilbertville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Greenwich ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Greenwich. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwich
    • Greenwich is located in Worcester County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Greenwich
    • From North Dana to Greenwich
  • Knights Corner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knights Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knights Corner
    • Knights Corner is located in Hampshire County
  • Locks Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locks Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locks Village
    • Locks Village is located in Franklin County
  • Meads Corner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meads Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meads Corner
    • Meads Corner is located in Hampshire County
  • Orange
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Packardville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Packardville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Packardville
    • Packardville is located in Hampshire County
  • Pratt Corner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pratt Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pratt Corner
    • Pratt Corner is located in Franklin County

How Far From North Dana to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as North Dana to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of North Dana once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in North Dana and extending to:

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 27 miles [43.5 km]<4> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from North Dana to Worcester, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 62 miles [99.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 349 miles [561.7 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,551 miles [8,933.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,261 miles [10,076.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,137 miles [6,657.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>

The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about North Dana, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- North Dana) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in North Dana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.4558, Longitude: -72.2790       In this case, the coordinates for North Dana have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<6>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from North Dana to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.695 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.396 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.074 degrees.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025